Incorporating 20th Century US Environmental History in the 6-12 Classroom
This guide consists of curated primary and secondary sources to help students connect environmental history to broader themes in twentieth century US history.
Abraham Lincoln and the Jews
Students learn about the sixteenth president’s relationship with Jewish Americans and his policy of religious tolerance.
Statistics in Schools
Analyze data from the U.S. Census Bureau in the social studies classroom.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Personalizing History
Make large-scale historic events like the Holocaust personal with artifacts and stories from individual human lives.
Preparing for the Days of Remembrance
How do people talk about and understand the Holocaust today in the U.S. and around the world?
IWitness
View testimonies on the Holocaust, create videos, and learn the importance of ethical editing.
VOCES Oral History Project
Ever wondered about the wartime experiences of Latinos and Latinas? VOCES seeks to help remedy the gap in U.S. popular historical narrative.
The Jewish Americans
This site, produced by PBS, uses multiple resources to examine the history and influence of Jewish culture in the U.S.
Puerto Rico Encyclopedia/Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico
Connect with your ELL students with this bilingual Puerto Rico Encyclopedia!
In Pursuit of Freedom
Frederick Douglass approached the abolition of slavery from within the confines of the Constitution.
Black Confederates
Most African Americans (free or slaves) never joined the ranks of the Confederacy. Are there cases where individuals did?
Zinn Education Project
Wanting to go deeper into the history of labor and marginalized groups in the U.S.?
Diversity in the 1920s
Segregation and equality in America was a case of double standards.
Civil Rights Sit-in
“Local custom” was at odds with company policy in Jackson, MS.
Lone Wolf v Hitchcock
Part of a series of laws that displaced Native Americans from land allotted to them through treaties with the U.S. government.
East St. Louis Massacre
Raising “the terrible weapon of self-defense” during riots in 1917 Illinois.
Booth's Reason for Assassination
In an attempt to salvage a failed Confederate agenda, John Wilkes Booth swore to destroy President Abraham Lincoln’s policy of extending civil liberties to African Americans.
Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Culture
At the virtual home of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Culture, six exhibits highlight ethnic culture in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
African and Native Americans in Colonial and Revolutionary Times
African Americans and Native Americans have had a long and complex relationship, often characterized by their similar exclusion from the fruits of freedom envisioned during the American Revolution.
Missouri Digital Heritage
Missouri teachers looking for primary sources, look no further. Explore this portal for resources from libraries, universities, archives, and heritage sites throughout the state.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series
View 22 census data samples and 65 million records from 13 federal censuses.
African American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
View 1,300 pieces of sheet music composed by and about African Americans.
White Trash: The Construction of an American Scapegoat
An excellent site for new study into the “white trash” demographic.
Jewish American History on the Web
An impressive website for the study of Jews and Judaism in the United States.
Images of African Americans from the 19th Century
Your first resource for photographs and images depicting African Americans during the 19th century.
The Underground Railroad
Travel the Underground Railroad with this interactive website.
The Whole World Was Watching: An Oral History of 1968
An oral history of 1968, as told by a variety of Rhode Island residents, focusing on Civil Rights and Vietnam.
African Americans in the Harmon Foundation Collection
A collection of 20 portraits by African American artists from the Harmon Foundation.
Through Our Parent's Eyes: Tucson's Diverse Community
Learn about the ethnically diverse history of Tucson, AZ.
Promise of Gold Mountain: Tucson's Chinese Heritage
A collection of primary sources detailing early Asian-Americans in Tucson, Arizona.
American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920
What impressions did the average citizen or foreigner form of early America and its people?
Spain, The United States, and The American Frontier: Historias Paralelas
If you need primary sources on the Spanish in North America, try this site.
The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color
Explore World War II’s color film footage.
Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
What was said, written, and drawn about slavery? Gain a more complete image of the institution, its evil effects, and how it felt to be a slave.
The Official Leonard Bernstein Site
Explore the life of a major classical conductor.
When They Were Young: A Photographic Retrospective of Childhood
What would it be like to grow up poor? Greek? Mexican? Rich?
Cleveland Digital Library
Explore the history of “the forest city.”
Selected Historical Decennial Census Population and Housing Counts
What questions have past censuses posed? What were the results?
Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting
How does an industrial past shape current work and play? How does it affect what professions still exist in cities?
Oral History Research Center
What do Vegas showgirls have to say about their time in the city?
WPA Life Histories, Virginia Interviews
Explore Depression-era, ex-slave, and urban youth life stories.
U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph Collection
Take a peek at 1940s military life in Hampton Roads, VA.
Meeting of Frontiers
How does the settling of the Siberian frontier compare to that of the U.S. West?
Encyclopedia Britannica: The 1911 Edition
Find out what people thought of everything from ablation to vinegar in 1911.
U.S. Steel Gary Works Photograph Collection, 1906-1971
Relive the construction of the city of steel—Gary, Indiana.
Characteristics of Census Tracts in Nine U.S. Cities, 1940-1960
How many hospital beds did New Orleans have in 1960? Was it able to accommodate the poor and sick?
American Colonization Society Collection: Maps of Liberia, 1830-1870
View maps of Liberia acquired during efforts to restore freedmen to Africa.
Texts from Collections of the University of Wisconsin, Madison
Access a selection of rare 19th-century books online.
Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
Right this way for Seattle and Washington state history resources.
Florida Heritage Collection
Explore Florida state, regional, and local history.
Belgian-American Research Collection
What would your life have been like as a Belgian immigrant in Wisconsin?
SDA: Survey Documentation and Analysis
Observe statistical trends in U.S. beliefs and demographics from free speech to zodiac signs.
Crime and Justice Data Online
What crimes are most common? What is the demographic composition of the police force?
Historical Maps Online
View 400 hundred years of cartography from the Illinois area.
The United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures
How are Brazil and the U.S. similar? How are they different?
New France, New Horizons: On French Soil in America
Explore French Louisiana, Canada, and the Great Lakes region.
Connecticut History Online
Take a look at the “Constitution State,” with approximately 14,000 images depicting Connecticut’s history from the 19th through the 20th century.
Pluralism and Unity
Explore the clash of ideas and ideologies in early 20th century America.
NativeWeb: Resources for Indigneous Cultures Around the World
A unique website designed to foster communication regarding all of the planet’s native peoples.
The Internet African-American History Challenge
A great website for introducing African American history to young or new students.
Seneca Village
One of the few resources dedicated to Seneca Village and the creation of Central Park.
WestWeb: Western Studies and Research Resources
This gateway site provides a wealth of resources pertaining to the American West.
Voices from the Gaps: Women Writers and Artists of Color
Learn about all of America’s most famous female writers of color with this comprehensive website.
Freedmen and Southern Society Project
Follow the emancipation process through the eyes of its participants.
Excerpts from Slave Narratives
The 46 first-person accounts on this website effectively chronicle slavery in the United States.
Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s
Learn about race in American sports history through the life of Jackie Robinson.
African American Women
Read the memoirs and letters of three 19th-century African American women on this website.
A Cybrary of the Holocaust
Visit this website for a firsthand view into the horror of the holocaust.
Japanese-American Internment
Use this site as a gateway to primary sources and online resources detailing Japanese Internment
The Japanese American Exhibit and Access Project
Go back in time and witness the harsh conditions at Japanese Internment Camps during World War II.
American Slave Narratives
Read and listen to firsthand narratives on slave life during the 19th century.
Vietnam War Era Ephemera Collection
Explore campus protest ephemera and the youth movements of the 1960s and 70s.
From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America
Peruse this online exhibit on the history of Jewish life in the United States.
Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Archive
Which ethnic groups have made their homes in the Columbia River Basin?
A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life
Explore Jewish heritage outside of the Mid-Atlantic or the Holocaust.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
What happened between 1880 and 1910 in the area where you live?
The History Box
Have a question about New York City or state history? More than 750 articles available.
The Malcolm X Project
Read FBI files on and watch interviews about Malcolm X, human and African American rights activist.
Folkstreams
View streaming videos on American folk culture from fox hunting to Zydeco.
Florida Folklife Collection
Explore the folk lore of Florida—from musical performances and art to occupational lore.
Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution
What roles have Jewish women played in the Second Wave of feminism?
U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census counts everyone! It creates a current image of the nation with its diversity and class variations.
Illinois During the Gilded Age
Listen to, read, and sing sources from the Gilded Age canvassing women, religion, and more.
Harlem History
Explore the politics, neighborhoods, culture, and arts of Harlem.
Coming of Age in the Twentieth Century, Stories from Minnesota and Beyond
What can oral histories tell us about girlhood, adolescence, and more in the United States?
McKinley Assassination Ink: A Documentary History
Explore the assassination of President McKinley and the social context thereof.
StoryCorps
Connect 20th-century events and daily life with real human experiences through oral history audio files.
Madison: Celebrating 150 Years
Learn about Madison, WI, from early settlement through its time as the “queen of bootleggers.”
California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties
Sit back and enjoy folk and popular music recordings from 1930s California natives and immigrants.
What Does It Mean to Be an American?
An 8th-grade teacher asks: Was early 20th-century America a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl”?
Historical Agency in History Book Sets (HBS)
Looking for ways to use fiction in your elementary history curriculum? Read on for suggestions!
Jewish Immigration During the Revolutionary War
Just before the Revolution, between 2,000 and 3,000 Jews lived in the colonies.
Was There an African American President Before Barack Obama?
Historians cannot claim to prove beyond doubt that occurrences in the past did or did not happen.
National Register of Historic Places Travel Itineraries
Explore the historic sites in more than 50 cities and towns across the U.S.
Oral History Digital Collection
In full-text narratives, more than 2,000 people from northeast Ohio discuss issues significant to the state and the nation.
Nineteenth-century California Sheet Music
Scanned images from more than 2,700 pieces of sheet music provide insight into life in 1852–1900 California.
American Radicalism Collection
From the Ku Klux Klan to the IWW, examine 129 historical documents from radical organizations.
Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project
Primary and secondary sources document the minority struggle for civil rights in Seattle’s history.
AIDS at 20
New York Times articles from 1981 to 2001 follow the development of the AIDS epidemic.
Jewish Women's Archive
Learn more about American Jewish women’s contributions to their communities and the wider world with these exhibits and resources.
Frontera Collection of Mexican American Music
Listen to clips from more than 100,000 recordings of Mexican American vernacular music.
American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920
Follows the development of popular entertainment forms from the 1870s to the 1920s, through playscripts, playbills, and media clips.
USC Archival Research Center
With over 126,000 photographs, maps, and other documents, this site offers a comprehensive look at the history of Los Angeles and southern California.
Center for Archaeological Studies
Showcases archaeological excavations at Mobile and elsewhere in Alabama through images and exhibits.
Digital History
Multimedia resources for teaching slavery, private life, technology, and film.
Tangled Roots
Primary sources point out cultural connections between the experiences of African and Irish Americans.
Marchand Archive
Memorializes Roland Marchand with more than 6,100 images, including more than 2,000 advertisements, and 48 lesson plans drawn from his collection.
Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project
Explore this archive of over 110 video interviews on Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
Chinese in California, 1850-1925
Browse more than 8,000 objects related to Chinese immigrant life in California.
1896: The Presidential Campaign
Follow the contentious election of 1896 with close to 100 political cartoons related to the presidential campaigns.
Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull-House and Its Neighborhoods, 1889-1963
Peruse this collection of over 900 items relating to Chicago’s Hull House to discover its influence on 20th century urban development.
American Family Immigration History Center
Records of more than 25 million passengers and crew who passed through Ellis Island 1892-1924.
Sunday School Books: Shaping the Values of Youth in 19th-Century America
Provides full-text transcriptions and page images of 1815–1865 Sunday school books addressing religious instruction for youth.
Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music
Scanned images of more than 18,000 pieces of sheet music, including covers, published prior to 1923.
Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704
Documents the 1704 raid on Deerfield, MA, by 300 French and their Native American allies.
Online Archive of California
Explore California from Japanese American internment or the Free Speech Movement to oral histories.
Alexander Street Press
Databases of digitized firsthand accounts and literary works document periods in American history, the experiences of minorities, and other topics.
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Peruse 11 exhibits, from the Gold Rush of 1849 to Japanese American internment during WWII.
The Stars and Stripes, 1918-1919
Peruse every edition of the “official newspaper” of the U.S. Army fighting forces during World War I.
South Texas Border, 1900-1920: The Robert Runyon Collection
This site showcases over 8,000 images documenting the history and development of South Texas and the border.
Typical in the 1930s
A panel of judges enlisted by the New York World’s Fair Corporation looked to Texas to find this family.